Speaker’s House celebrates Votes for Women

17 July 2018

Wearing Suffragette-style boaters and sashes, Janet Flynn and Lynda Ridgway were among 100 women from Labour MP John Mann’s Bassetlaw constituency who visited Speaker’s House to celebrate the centenary of women first getting the vote.

Lynda, the treasurer of a residents’ association in Bircotes, said: “While women have come a long way since the early 1900s, there’s still a long way to go for us to be truly equal.

“In my opinion, voting is the most important thing any of us can do – after all many people have fought very hard to allow us to vote. It doesn’t matter who you vote for – as long as you exercise your right to do so. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

The women were in Westminster as part of #Vote100, which celebrates the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which allowed some women, and all men, to vote for the first time.

A series of events are taking place to engage the public with the UK Parliament and the struggle for the vote.

These include a 'Voice & Vote' exhibition in Westminster Hall, which highlights the campaign for votes for women and the representation of women in the House of Commons and House of Lords.